D.C. board refuses to let voters add same-sex 'marriage' ban to ballot

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Washington D.C., Nov 19, 2009 / 06:23 am (CNA).- The Board of Elections and Ethics in Washington D.C. ruled Tuesday that allowing a same-sex 'marriage' ban on the ballot would violate the city's Human Rights Act of 1977. On Wednesday, the organization, Stand4MarriageDC filed a lawsuit against the board saying it is denying D.C. citizens the right to vote on the definition of marriage.

The Marriage Initiative 2009 is currently seeking to put a measure on the ballot in which voters can decide if “only marriage between a man and woman" should be "valid or recognized" in the District of Columbia. The measure is being championed by an organization called Stand4MarriageDC, headed by Bishop Harry Jackson, Senior Pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md.

Board of Elections Chairman Errol R. Arthur said in a statement on Tuesday that "laws of the District of Columbia preclude us from allowing this initiative to move forward" and that the initiative "would authorize discrimination prohibited under the [District's] Human Rights Act."

On November 18, the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance which seeks to defend religious liberty, filed suit against the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics on behalf of Stand4MarriageDC, saying that the board precluded the right of citizens in the district to vote for or against the definition of marriage.

The people of D.C. have a right to vote on the definition of marriage,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks in a press statement. “The D.C. Charter guarantees the people the right to vote, and the council cannot amend the charter for any reason, much less to deny citizens the right to vote.

Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, also weighed in on the situation. "The D.C. Council reeks of rank hypocrisy. For years they have demanded that D.C. citizens should have the right to vote for congressional representation, which is in direct contradiction to the Constitution. Yet now they are denying D.C. citizens the right to vote on marriage, an institution so fundamental to America's well-being that territories were not allowed to become states unless they kept marriage between one man and one woman,” she said in a press release on Nov 18.

Thirty-one states have already allowed citizens to vote on the definition of marriage. In every case, traditional marriage was preserved.

However, Mayor Adrian Fenty said that the D.C. Council was capable of making a decision regarding same- sex "marriage" because the council was elected by the citizens of the District of Columbia.

The City Council in D.C. is expected to vote on a motion for same-sex “marriage” on December 1.

Comments: 11

Subscriber comments:

Published by: BARB
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA 12/15/2009 07:24 PM EST

I agree: Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, also weighed in on the situation. "The D.C. Council reeks of rank hypocrisy. For years they have demanded that D.C. citizens should have the right to vote for congressional representation, which is in direct contradiction to the Constitution. Yet now they are denying D.C. citizens the right to vote on marriage, an institution so fundamental to America's well-being that territories were not allowed to become states unless they kept marriage between one man and one woman,” she said in a press release on Nov 18. The reason the DC City Council decided against letting DC voters actually vote on whether they believed same-sex marriage should be legal...is because they knew the voters would NOT vote for anything approving same-sex marriages. Well...what a bunch of disgusting hypocrites. Thanks anyway to Councilwoman Alexander and Marion Barry for voting AGAINST same-sex marriages today. Former DC resident...of SE Washington, Lincoln Park.

Published by: JeffreyRO%
Michigan 11/23/2009 09:41 PM EST

Gays do not have the same rights as straights: to marry the consenting adult of their choice. I sure wish dumb people would stop saying "but gays have the same rights as straights!" when it comes to marriage. Gays don't have the right to marry the person they want to marry, who consents. Straights do.

Published by: Dan
USA 11/19/2009 11:28 PM EST

The Civil Rights Act was dealing with a situation that is considerably different from the gay rights agenda nowadays. In the case of racism, yes, it would've turned out differently and we might still have segregation. In the case of gay marriage, however, it is somewhat different because you are dealing with a moral evil that is even graver than racism was. These people are trying to say that homosexuals have the "right" to marry. In order to have that "right," it must be given to you first by God. With racism, we know that every human of any race was given equal dignity by God. God has not given the "right" of marriage to homosexuals, and therefore, they do not have that particular "right" to begin with. While they do have the same basic right to respect as all humans, marriage does not fall under this category because it was not given by God in the first place, but is actually condemned by God, as is obvious in Scripture. This disgust toward something that is so totally against natural law is instilled into each one of us, and it is evident that most humans feel this abhorrence since it has been voted against in 31 states. May God continued to give us the strength to fight against moral evils!

Published by: Brendan
Detroit, MI 11/19/2009 07:49 PM EST

Dave, you are wrong. Homosexuals have the exactl same legal rights as anyone else. Namely, if they are not currently married, they may enter into a civil marital contract with one, unmarried, adult, consenting, human person of the opposite sex. Those are the same rights as anyone else, so no civil rights are being violated.

Published by: martin
nebraska 11/19/2009 07:45 PM EST

marriage isn't even a human right!! how can it violate a human right's act?! criminy!

Published by: Francis
Wareham Ma 11/19/2009 06:53 PM EST

FS, True Civil Rights comes from God and natural law. Sodomy is no more of a civil right than adultery, fornication or abortion. Marriage is not a civil right either. Even the true definition of Marriage between a man and a woman which predates even the Catholic church and was reaffirmed by Jesus himself has civil and religious restrictions attached to it: You don't have a "right" to "marry" your sister or brother, a minor, or be a polygamist and have 4 wives at the same time. All of these pseudo "civil rights" are a product of the 1960's leftist, secular, and relativist mentality.

Published by: FS
DC 11/19/2009 01:58 PM EST

Putting Civil Rights on the ballot is a dangerous thing. Had the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s been left to be decided by the ballot box we would still have legal segregation, lets face it. Sometimes leaders have to lead, even if they are ahead of what mob wants, as president Johnson did.

Published by: Fred
DC 11/19/2009 01:51 PM EST

I wonder why a minister from PG county is getting involved in DC politics...It seems to me that he should focus on the ever-growing violence in his own community.

Published by: Dave
Detroit, MI, USA 11/19/2009 12:06 PM EST

The Catholic Church already has the right to refuse to perform any marriage that it does not see fit. The Catholic Church should not perform a marriage for anyone that is divorced, and does not have to by law. Civil Marriage is what is in question, and it guarantees couples rights and protections. Your opposition is based purely on hatred/bigotry.

Published by: DLL
scituate Mass. USA 11/19/2009 08:31 AM EST

This is a fundamental issue,so the marriage issue shouldn't be decided by bureaucrats with extra wide back pockets. Let the people vote! We obviously have a dictator type government,as democracy in the good old USA,is officially dead.

Published by: Francis
Wareham MA 11/19/2009 07:36 AM EST

Ever notice that anything, whether it's an organization, a court, a piece of legislation, or a law that has "human rights" in it always stands for and promotes leftist, Godless, and unnatural things?!! And subverts TRUE natural rights and natural laws for PSEUDO "rights".(Ie Abortion, same sex "marriage", secularism, relativism etc) These are some examples: "the human rights watch", "The European Court of Human Rights", Washington DC's "Human Rights Act" ETC

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